


I've seen you before

by CookieWaffle



Category: LOZ - Fandom, Legend of Zelda, Nintendo, Smash Bros - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Autistic Link, Crossover, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Mario bein a good ol friend because he's just a good guy, Modern AU, Multi, Soulmates, Trans Link, gender fluid Zelda, trans headcanons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-09
Updated: 2017-06-09
Packaged: 2018-11-11 15:18:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11151126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CookieWaffle/pseuds/CookieWaffle
Summary: Link is a hyrulian history major college student who just recenly bought his first place at Greenshell Apartments. A lot of things are new to him. A new job, new friends, a new apartment. But there's one thing that doesn't feel compeltely new to him. A girl. It's strange though, why does she feel so familliar to him? He's never met her before. Or has he?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is mostly a modern soulmate zelink AU but it's not just loz related. It's got a lot of friends from the rest of the Nintendo crew as well! Why? Because it's fun and I want to.
> 
> Also! One more thing! In this fic, Link and Zelda are not based on any canon incarnations. I did base some of their looks and personalities off of multiple incarnations of them but they in fact comepletly new incarnations.

It was a hot summer day at Greenshell Apartments. There was a young man who had moved in just a day ago. He was 19 years old at the time, almost 20. He had shoulder length platnum blonde hair, eyes as blue as the sky, was short and lean, had beautiful long pointed ears, and every inch of him was covered in freckles. He didn't own too many belongings so unpacking was not much of a concern for him. However school was a concern, so he tried to do some homework. Unfortunately though, the heat was making it hard for him to concentrate. But he couldn't turn on the AC because well, that costed money, and he barely even had enough to keep the tiny apartment he had just bought. All he had too cool himself down with was a dinky little fan he found at a garage sale. It worked a little bit most of the time, but the heat today was too much for it to be of much use.  
He decided to take a quick break. Maybe get something to drink. Oh wait, he had not yet bought water. And he couldn't drink any from the tap because the color of it didn't look right and it smelled funny. Gross. The apartment he had chosen may have not been a Las Vegas penthouse, but it was better than living in a shelter, or living on the streets, or moving from foster home to foster home, which is what the young man's previous living conditions were. Yes, the apartment may have been crap but he was happy with it anyways. He finally had home of his own for the first time in his life, and he was greatful for it, even if he did barely have enough money to feed himself.

There is a knock on the door. Who could it be? The young man goes to the door and opens it. And there stood two men who looked to be around their mid-30s. One was short and round and had a dashing mustache. The other was a bit taller and slimmer and also had a dashing mustache. 

"Hello? Can I help you?" Said the young man shyly.

The short round one replied, "Yes hello! I hope we are not intruding, we are your new neighbors and we wanted to stop by and introduce ourselves." The man spoke with a thick Italian accent. 

"Oh uh... Hello." The young man responded as he shook the hands of the two men. 

His new neighbor continued, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Mario, and this here is my brother Luigi" 

"Ello!" Said Luigi enthusiastically, "We own the plumbing company right across the street." He pointed to a quaint looking little building that was directly across the street from the apartment complex. It had sign that read "Mario Bros Plumbing". 

"Then Luigi added, the landlord of this complex is our cousin too!"

Then Mario added in with a deep sigh, "Yes... unfortunately..." in a split second the man returned to his chipper demeanor, "So, what is your name new neighbor?" 

The young man replied, "Oh uh, my name is Link." 

"Link! A good name! Now we should be going back to work now. But we will make sure to say hi again later!" Said Mario.

"Y-Yes. It was nice meeting you too!" Said Link.  
Soon after that the two men departed. How very nice. Only his second day here and Link has already made some new friends! Maybe this crappy little apartment complex was not so bad after all.


	2. Chapter 2

Dreams. Dreams are strange. And they especially were for Link. Most of Link's dreams didn't feel so much like dreams but actually felt more like very faint memories. Memories that he never actually experienced. Some odd, some happy, some were so terrifying or painful that they would make him jolt awake. But they were never vivid dreams. They always felt foggy, fragmented, and incomplete. Especially a certain kind of dream that he would have every so often. This dream was so foggy that he couldn't even see it. He could only just feel and hear it. And what he felt was warmth, safety, love. What he heard were sweet voices that whispered sweet things that soothed and reassured him. The voices did not all sound the same but for some reason they all felt like they were coming from the same person. And it was someone he deeply cared for. But who? He could never see who it was. This kind of dream was rare but was also Link's favorite kind to have. He had no family and grew up with very few friends. He did not feel safe or loved in the real world. Only in his dreams. He didn't dare tell anyone that he only found comfort in his dreams. He was very self conscious about it. He thought that if he did say anything about it, people would look down upon him. So he made sure to keep his dreams to himself.

Tonight was one of those special dreams. He felt someone stroking his long sensitive ears. It felt nice. He couldn't remember the last time someone in real life had touched him so affectionately. 

"Good morning sleepyhead" said the sweet voice, "So handsome... That remlet really got you in the face bad didn't it? you poor thing. There's a feather stuck in your hair silly!"

As per usual, the voice's words were incoherent and seemed to say things randomly rather than say them in complete sentences. But Link still liked hearing it, even if what they said didn't always make much sense.

"I love you sleepyhead..."

"CRASH!" Link was awoken by the loud noise. He then felt an awful cramping pain in his ribs and back. He had forgotten to take off his binder when he went to bed again, which was the cause for the pain. But that was not his concern at the moment. His concern was whatever made that crashing noise. He went to his window and looked outside. He saw what looked like a group of teenagers arguing. 

"You idiot! Look what you did! Are trying to get us in trouble!" One of the teenagers shouted. He was a muscular looking kid with dark skin and wore his hair in dreads that were dyed a bright red color.

"Hey that wasn't my fault! You were the one who decided to start throwing things!" Another teen shouted back. This one had his hair up in a mohawk and was dyed blue. And he was dressed like some kind of 90s fashion disaster. 

"Well maybe if you weren't being such a jackass I wouldn't have thrown that rock at you and hit that window!" The first one argued. 

"Both of you are idiots..." Another kid said, this one being much quieter. This kid didn't look that much younger than Link, but he was still obviously high school aged. His hair was black with red highlights. And he looked like he never grew out of his middle school emo phase. And there was a fourth kid as well, but he said nothing. He was a small ginger that looked much younger than the others. What was a kid that young doing out in the middle of the night hanging out with a bunch of teenagers? 

Then he could hear Mario's voice yelling from next door, "Hey! If I see you hooligans around here again Imma call the police!" Followed by Luigi's voice yelling, "You better pay for that!"

Then, he heard one of the kids yell "SCRAM!" And all four of them ran in separate directions. The blue haired kid ran faster than anyone else Link had ever seen. He was almost impressed.  
Well that was... interesting. But now Link needed to get back to sleep. He had a big day coming up. His first day at his new job. It was very difficult for Link to find a job. He found social interaction difficult at times. He had a habit of "shutting down" under too much social pressure and he would often go completely non-verbal. And that would happen a lot during job interviews. But he did manage to get this one. Although honestly, it was probably because no one wanted the job. It was a retail job and apparently the store manager was a pain in the ass to work with. Link had not met the store manager yet. He was a bit nervous about it but he needed to try and keep his cool this time. He needed this job more than anything right now. He did have a job before, he had to have one to be able to rent his apartment. But it didn't pay well and he needed to get a differnt job that would help him keep the place. This new one payed decently.  
Link went back to bed and tried to clear his thoughts so that he could fall asleep. Fortunately he remembered to take off his binder this time.


	3. Chapter 3

It was an interesting day for Link. He met his boss at work in the morning. It was... uncomfortable, to say the least. His name was Ganondorf Dragmire. Mr. Dragmire was a very large and intimidating man. He had to be at least 7ft and could probably snap Link in half like a toothpick if he wanted to. Link tried not to avoid eye contact with the man but it was difficult. He had sharp orange eyes that felt like they could pierce right through his soul if he looked into them. Just looking at the guy made him tense and anxious for some reason. Almost like they were already enemies. But how could that be? He had just met the guy! Maybe he was being a little bit too judgmental. So he decided that he'd try to give Mr. Dragmire a chance. Although he still could not help feeling very anxious around the man.

"So, you're hylian aren't you? You don't see too many hylians around anymore. Not too many of you left. If I remember correctly you guys only make up around five percent of the world's population now." Said Mr. Dragmire.

Link just nervously nodded his head in reply.

The man continued, "I'm not so different you know. I'm Gerudo! And a male one at that! We barely even make up one percent of the population these days. It is refreshing to finally meet someone with origins from our ancient homeland of Hyrule." 

Link calmed down a bit. This guy didn't seem so bad after all. But, there was still something about him that seemed... off putting... 

"Well, you better get to work. It was a pleasure meeting you" Mr. Dragmire said as he shook Link's hand. His grip was firm and tight. It kinda hurt. "My co-manager will show you what you will be doing here." 

The co-manager was also large and intimidating. He was very muscular and brutish looking. But Link wasn't so anxious around him though. He was still scary looking but he was missing whatever made Mr. Dragmire so frighting to Link. He wasn't sure what it was though. His name tag said "Bowser Koopa". Seemed like a fitting name.  
"Eh, guess I'll show you around. Follow me." Said Mr. Koopa unenthusiastically. And soon as he was out of earshot from Mr. Dragmire he muttered, "Man I hate taking orders from that guy. Someday I'll be runnin' this joint." Then he turned to Link, "Ya know he's always nice to people on the first day but after that, you better watch yourself kid." He laughed, "Ganny is a real pain in the ass once ya get to know em'." 

This was making Link feel a bit uncomfortable so he asked to go to the bathroom so he could escape for a while. 

"Oh uh, girl's bathroom is that way" Mr. Koopa replied.

Link's face grew red, "I uh.... I'm not... I'm not a girl..."

The man apologized, "Oh sorry bout' that kid. It's the voice. And the hair... And the earrings."

Link's face grew even redder. He hated how feminine his voice sounded. It made everyone assume he was a girl. He also hated how he couldn't wear any jewelry or wear his hair down in public without people assuming he was a girl. It wasn't that he thought there was anything wrong with being a girl, he just preferred to be a boy. Well, most of the time anyways. There were those days where he felt a bit girly, but today was not one of those days.  
Link silently walked into the men's bathroom and took out his earrings and tied his hair back in a ponytail hoping that it would make him look less feminine. It was a shame, he really liked those earrings. They were the only nice things he had to wear.  
"Pika!" Link felt a slight tug on his pant leg. "Pika! Pika!" 

He looked down and saw a small furry yellow animal looking back up at him. It was a pikachu! What was a pikachu doing here? And how did it get into the bathroom? It must have been someone's pet, you never wild pokémon around this part of the world. Who did it belong too? 

Link bent down and spoke to the small animal softly, "Hello there little one, are you lost?" He scratched the pikachu behind the ear. He seemed to like it and returned the affection by nuzzling him. Link had always had a way with animals, so Pikachu had felt quite comfortable with him. 

"Now, lets go see who you belong to" Link said as he picked the pokémon up.

He walked out of the bathroom with Pikachu snuggled up in his arms. He wasn't sure what to do with him so went to Mr. Koopa.

"Hey kid you better not let Dragmire see that thing in here. There's no animals allowed in the store!" Koopa said as soon as he saw the yellow pokémon. 

Link responded, "Oh uh... He's not mine. I found him in the bathroom. I think someone may have lost their pet." 

Mr. Koopa scratched the back of his head, "Well then make an announcement on the PA system. And if nobody comes for it then.... Well you figure out what to do with it I guess." 

Link didn't want to use the PA system, he felt embarrassed by his own voice. But he was too shy to ask any of his co-workers so he sucked it up and did it anyways.

"Did uh... Did anyone lose a their Pikachu?" Link said nervously into the mic, "Someone's pikachu has been found wandering around the store, we have him here." He waited a few minutes but no one had come by to get Pikachu. So he spoke into the mic again, "We have found a lost pikachu, could it's owner please come to the help desk and get it?" Still nothing. This repeated three more times until he had to accept the fact that no one was going to come for Pikachu. 

He felt bad for Pikachu. He wanted to do something but he didn't know what. And it's not like he could just leave him on the street outside the mall, no he could never do that. He could maybe take him to an animal shelter after work but he didn't have any contact information on him and he was afraid that the shelter would just put him up for adoption without finding the owner. Then he got an idea. He could take Pikachu home and put out flyers for him. If no one called after maybe two or three weeks then he would take him to the shelter as a last resort. But first, he needed a place to hide Pikachu until his shift ended. He snuck out into the parking lot to find his car. When got to it he opened the door and put Pikachu inside. 

"I really hate to leave you here friend. But it will only be about 30 more minutes. I'm sorry I have no food or water for you but I promise to get you some when we get back to my place. I'll make sure too leave the windows rolled down for you too" Link said to Pikachu. 

"Pika!" Was all that Pikachu said. 

Link did feel really bad for leaving an animal in a car on a hot summer day. But he really had no other choice. It was either that or leaving the poor thing to fend for himself, and there was no way he was going to do that.  
Link returned to his car when his shift had ended. Pikachu was taking a nap under one of the seats. He was relived to find that the little one was doing okay. When he got back to his apartment he set things up for his special guest. He had bought some water at the store when his shift had ended and he poured a bottle into a plastic bowl for Pikachu. Unfortunately he did not have any pet food so he just poured a bowl of dry cereal into another plastic bowl. Then he made a little bed out of a spare blanket had and lay out some old newspapers he found in the dumpster behind the building as a little "potty spot" just in case his little guest needed to go to the bathroom. 

Link spoke to his new furry friend as he pet him gently, "Well, it looks like you'll be staying with me for a little while. I'll try to get you some real pet food in the meantime." He looked at the clock, it was 11:30, he should be getting to sleep soon, he had class tomorrow at 9. And Pikachu looked pretty tuckered out himself. He must of had a long day with getting separated from his owner and all. Link set the yellow furball on the bed that he made for him. 

"Goodnight little one" He said with a yawn as began getting dressed into something suitable for sleeping. 

Pikachu curled up in a ball and fell asleep almost immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So to keep in mind for the next chapters, in this universe pokémon don't really have powers and are more like normal animals.


	4. Chapter 4

Tonight's dream was a bad one. He saw fire. All he could see was fire. And heard a voice. But it was not one of the sweet voices like he heard in his dream from the previous night. No, this one sounded malicious. The voice said no words, but instead it laughed, a terrifying, evil laugh. Link felt he was in great danger. He felt an incredible sharp pain pierce through his chest. The pain was so awful that it made him jolt awake in cold sweat. He felt panicked and disoriented, and he was breathing hard. Then he felt something soft touch his leg. He looked down to see Pikachu sitting on his lap looking up at him, seemingly concerned. He began to calm down. He scratched pikachu behind the ear.  
"Thanks little buddy" he spoke to the animal softly. 

It was morning. He should be getting ready for class soon. He got up, poured himself some cereal, got dressed, and refilled Pikachu's food and water. 

Link spoke to Pikachu before he left, "I'll be back at around 5:00. You behave yourself okay little buddy?" 

"Pikaaaa!" He replied.

On the drive to class he spotted those kids from the other night next to him at a red light. The edgy looking emo one was driving with the windows rolled down and screamo music was blasting out of the car at full volume. The other three kids were in the back, the younger ginger one had his hands covering his ears. Link couldn't blame the kid. That music was way too loud. Especially for him. Those long hylian ears of his were naturally sensitive to sounds. And on top of that he had sensory issues that made loud sounds like that painful.  
He rolled down his window and tried to get the driver's attention, "Hey could you um maybe... maybe... Could you maybe turn that down a little?" He could hardly hear himself over the music.  
Emo McHotTopic did seem to notice though. He looked at Link with a nasty glare and turned the music up even higher. Link though he could hear one of the other kids yell, "Oh come on! Seriously?!"

"Sheesh, what a jackass..." Link said to himself. 

The light turned green. And the car left. 

"Thank god." Link muttered. 

He arrived at class a bit early. He was majoring in Hyrulian history. He picked the subject because he never knew much about his Hylian heritage or culture since he grew up an orphan. He thought that maybe if he tried to discover more about his heritage he could finally feel like he... belonged somewhere maybe? Well that and because the subject was very interesting. The history of ancient Hyrulian society is a great mystery. Much of it has been lost throughout the ages. Hyrule was an unbelievably old country. So old that no one has ever been able to pinpoint exactly hold old it was. And there were so many myths and legends surrounding it that it was hard to tell what was actual fact and what was just fairy tales. And not only that, but the native races of the country were dwindling in numbers. It was very rare to run into another Hyrulian. Link himself had never even met another hylian. He did know a sheikah however. His professor just so happened to be one. And just the day before he haf met a Gerudo, who was his new boss. But he had never met another Hylian like him. Hylians, Shiekah, and Gerudo were the three races native to Hyrule. There were a few other ones mentioned in many ancient texts but most historians figured they were just myths since they were creatures like fish people, bird people, and rock people. Still, the thought of them possibly having existed at one point in history was an exciting idea. Link liked to think they existed. Personally he didn't find the idea too far fetched. 

Link actually used to despise his Hylian heritage. The other children in the foster homes he lived in would often tease him about his long ears. Growing up as an orphaned autistic transgender kid was already hard enough, getting bullied for the way he looked on top of all that just made things worse. But, as he got older he grew more and more curious about his background. 

Link's history professor was a sheikah woman named Impa, and she preferred to be called by her first name. She saw her name as a proud symbol of her ancient heritage. She was tall and muscular, and had dark skin and her hair was snow white. She was not old though, she was only around her mid-40s. White hair was just a very common trait in sheikah people. Link had been getting along with her well so far. He was one of the top students in that class and he was always genuinely interested in her lectures. But he couldn't say the same for his other classes. He'd often get bored and distracted easily. Luckily though the school had provided accommodations for him because he was autistic. He was provided a recording device so that he could study any information that he may missed while he was zoning out. But for this class he didn't need it as much. He just used it for taking down notes, because found it difficult to both pay attention and take notes at the same time.  
The class was starting on a new unit today. It was about ancient Hyrulian legends. Link found it very fascinating. And one legend in particular really caught his attention. The legend of a goddess and her hero. It told of a the goddess Hylia and her chosen hero who had died defending their people and were cursed to be reborn over and over again and defended the land of Hyrule from great evil in every one of their lives. It was apparently the most famous and well known out if all the Hyrulian legends. It was only a tale but something about it really struck a chord with Link. He couldn't exactly tell why though.  
A conversation between two other students nearby broke his concentration for a moment. 

"You see the that new student? She's cute!" One of them asked. 

"Where is she? I can't see her." Said the other student. 

"A few rows behind you, far left corner, ain't she cute?" The first one replied.

"Yea I see her now. Wow she is cute! And she's a hylian? I didn't know we had any other hylians going here other than that one blonde guy with the freckles." Said the second one.

There was another hylian in the class? No way! Link turned to look in the direction that his classmate had described. Sure enough, sitting there in the far left corner of the classroom was young hylian woman. And she was cute! No, that's an understatement. She was absolutely gorgeous! She had chocolate brown hair that was in a pixie cut, and her eyes were a spring green color. And her face was so pretty! Even though she had what looked like a scar that ran through her right eyebrow down to the top of her cheek, it did not take away from her natural beauty.  
For a moment Link couldn't take his eyes off her. Partially because this was the first other hyilian he had ever seen and partially because GOSH she was pretty!  
Suddenly she looked back at him and immediately Link's face and ears turned red as a cherry and turned back towards the front of the classroom. 

"Shit, shit, SHIT..." He thought to himself, "She probably thinks I'm weird now!" 

He didn't look back at the girl for the rest of the class, fearing that he might make her uncomfortable. 

Soon class had ended and there was a 30 minute gap between that class and his next one so he decided to take a little break. 

"Hey!" 

He didn't notice that someone was calling him at first

"Hey you!"

Still didn't notice.

"Hey freckles I'm talking to you!"

That got his attention. He looked towards whoever was calling him and saw it was the hylian girl from class. His face and ears grew red again. And he thought she was pretty from afar! She looked even more beautiful up close! 

"Hey I've seen you before!" Said the girl. "Or at least you just look familiar." 

Link had no idea what she was talking about so he just shrugged.

"What's your name?" She asked.

Link tried to reply but he found it hard to speak, "L-L... My name is Link..." He said in quiet voice.

Then the girl said, "Okay yea, I feel like I've heard that name before! Can't really put my finger on where though. Maybe you just look sorta like someone I know or seen before?" 

Link shrugged again.

"Oh well It'll probably come to me eventually. The names' Zelda by the way." She said, "Also sorry bout' calling you freckles, I just didn't know what else to call you." 

Link really couldn't figure out what to say. He didn't want to come off as too awkward. 

"You're not very talkative are you?" Zelda asked.

Link just nodded slightly and looked at the ground. 

"That's alright, you don't gotta talk if you don't want too." Said Zelda, "Ya know if you use sign language I can understand it." 

He did know sign language! He had taught himself while he was still in foster care so that it would be easier to communicate with people while he was nonverbal. But unfortunately most people he came across couldn't understand it so he couldn't use it as often as he thought he would.

"I know it" Link signed.

"Oh cool." Said Zelda.

This made it made it so much easier for Link to speak with her.

"I haven't seen you in class before." Link signed.

Zelda responded, "Oh yea, I was supposed to start at the beginning of the semester, but I ended up in the hospital for a while so I had to start late." 

"You were at the hospital? What for?" Link signed looking concerned.

"I uhhh, I don't really wanna talk about it." Zelda answered. 

"I'm so sorry!" Link signed frantically. 

"Ah nah it's okay. I'm feeling way better now anyways." Zelda looked at her watch, "Yikes, I gotta get to class! It was nice meeting you Link." Then she left.

Well she seemed nice. Maybe they could start a friendship. Although Link was never too good at making friends. 

After school ended Link left for work, but he couldn't seem to stop thinking about that girl. Something about her felt familiar. Maybe they really did meet before? But how could that be? Before today he's never met another hylian! And she was also really pretty and nice to him, he thought a lot about that too. 

Mr. Dragmire's voice suddenly broke his thoughts "Hey kid! You don't get payed to sit on your ass and daydream!" 

Link shot up and nervously apologized, "S-Sorry Mr. Dragmire! It won't happen again!" 

"Better not happen again if you wanna keep this job!" His boss snapped.

"Looks like Mr. Koopa was right, this guy is gonna be a pain in the ass to work with." Link thought to himself as he got back to work. 

And he was correct. Ganondorf Dragmire was the biggest pain in the ass Link had ever had to work with in his life. He yelled at the employees, threatened them, intentionally tried to intimidate them, and was just a huge asshole in general. Link was terrified of this guy. And he seemed to dislike him the most. He was always leering down at him and making his anxiety sky rocket. But as much as Link hated it, he knew he had to try his best to keep this job. The last thing he wanted was to not be able to pay his rent and end up homeless again. So he decided to suck it up and deal with it.

Link got home a bit later than usual, he had to pick up some proper pet food for Pikachu because he couldn't just keep feeding him dry cereal. By the time he got home he was completely exhausted from work. All he wanted to do now was sleep. But unfortunately tonight that was not a luxury he could afford, beause when he opened the door to his apartment what he saw inside was a disaster. It looked like a tornado had gone through the place! Two of the pillows from his couch (which doubled as his bed) were ripped to shreds and the foam that was supposed be inside them was all over the place, the window blinds had been torn down, the cupboards were all open and there was spilled cereal and ramen noodles everywhere. And was that.... ketchup splattered all over the table? And right in the middle of the room, sitting on the floor looking up at Link, was sweet, adorable, innocent little Pikachu with couch foam sticking to his fur and his face covered in ketchup stains. 

The small creature tilted his head, "Pika?"

"Oh great! This is just fantastic!" Link yelled out in frustration. 

He couldn't get too mad at Pikachu though. He should have known better. The poor thing had lost his owner and had to spend hours in an unfamiliar environment, of course he was going to get antsy and stir crazy. Although this was a bit extreme.  
The first thing he did was try to give the little fiend a quick bath. He did NOT appreciate Link trying to scrub all the ketchup off his face and he made it much more difficult than it needed to be. After the bath he got to work on cleaning up the place which took about three hours. He may have been able to get it done faster if he wasn't constantly fighting back the urge to pass out from exhaustion. After he was done and filled up Pikachu's food and water, he collapsed on to the couch and was out like a light. He didn't even take the time to change clothes. And he didn't take off his binder again, which he would surly regret when he woke up. 

He had another dream that night. One of the nice ones that he liked. But this time it was a bit different. He could actually see what was going on. Well, some of what was going on anyways. It was still all very blurry. The sweet voice was back, and this time he could sort of see the silhouette of who it was coming from. He thought he saw what may have been pointed ears in their shape. Were they hylian like he was? Who were they? And why is the dream more clear now? Ironically the dream becoming clearer raised more questions than answers. But nevertheless, he felt safe and loved in their presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah yes, the iconic duo finally meet! I tried to make Zelda's personality a mix between Tetra's and SS Zelda's personalities. She also has some BOTW Zelda in her as well but that side of her will be shown more in future chapters.


	5. Chapter 5

Link had to figure out what to do with Pikachu before he left for class. He didn't want to risk his apartment getting trashed again. He also needed to start putting up found posters for Pikachu today, but he didn't own a printer. Maybe he could ask Mario or Luigi, they must have had a printer since they owned a business. Link picked up Pikachu and walked over to Mario's apartment. When he knocked on the door a woman he did not recognize answered. 

"Yes can I help you?" Asked the woman.

"I um... I'm looking for Mario. Is he here?" Link said nervously. 

"Oh, he's at the warehouse across the street helping his brother out with something, I'm Mario's wife, Peach." The woman replied.

No way. THIS was Mario's wife? This lady looked like a supermodel! She was tall and beautiful and had long luscious blonde hair. You'd never guess that she was married to a plumber.

"What do you need him for?" Peach asked.

"Oh uh, I need to make some found posters for this little guy here. I found him at work." Link answered.

Pikachu looked up at Peach, "Pika!"

"Oh my goodness! How adorable!" The woman said as she scratched Pikachu under the chin, which the small animal seemed to appreciate very much.

"Well I'm sure my husband would be more than happy to help you, just stop by our warehouse and he'll be there." Said Peach.

"Thank you Miss!" Link said before he took off.

It was a very short walk to Mario and Luigi's warehouse. The doors were open when he got there. It was a small warehouse filled with all different kinds of plumbing supplies and a company truck that Mario and Luigi were working on. 

Then, out of nowhere, a large green lizard-like creature came running up to Link. He was a bit alarmed at first but then Pikachu jumped out of his arms and went over to sniff the creature. The lizard, or whatever it was, didn't attack or show any form of aggression towards Pikachu. It just curiously flicked it's long tongue at him a few times. 

Then he heard a female voice, "Oh I'm so sorry!" A young woman with short brown hair came running over and picked up the large creature, "Sorry bout' that. Yoshi can get a little bit excited when we have visitors He's just our tegu lizard. Don't worry, he may look big and scary but he's real friendly."

Link looked at Yoshi. Yoshi looked back at him and flicked his tongue out. Link couldn't help but let out a little giggle. 

The brown haired woman spoke again, "So, what can I do ya for?"

"Well I'm here to ask Mario something" Link replied.

"Oh Mario? He's right over there." Then the brunette yelled at the top of her lungs, "OI MARIO SOMEONES' HERE TA SEE YA!"

Mario slid out from under the truck, "Link! How nice of you to drop by! I see you've met Daisy, she's my wife's second cousin. And it seems you've met Yoshi as well!" 

Pikachu pranced over to the mustached man, "Pika-pi!"

"Oh? You have a pikachu? How cute!" Said Mario as he bent down to pet the yellow pokémon. 

"That's just what I'm here about." Said Link, "He's not mine, I found this little guy wandering around lost while I was at work. I was wondering if I could use your printer to make found posters for him."

"The poor thing! I'd be happy to help!" Said Mario, "The printer is in the back, feel free to make as many copies as you want." 

"Oh thank you so much! Now all I gotta worry about is how to make sure he doesn't trash my apartment again while I'm gone." Said Link.

"We can take the little guy off your hands for the day if you'd like" Said Mario. 

"You sure?" Link asked.

"Yea! It'll be no problem!" Said Mario.

Then Daisy chipped in, "Plus, I think Yoshi likes him hehe." 

She put Yoshi on the ground next to Pikachu and and they sniffed each other again. Then Pikachu gave the tegu lizard a little lick on the snout. Yoshi turned away and covered his face with his paw, almost as if he were blushing. 

"Wow thanks! I'll make sure to remember to return the favor sometime!" Link said

"It's no problem!" Said Mario.

"Well, I should get going soon, better make a those posters before I'm late for class." Link said.

Before he left he made about 4 dozen or so of the posters and thanked Mario again for his kindness.

Link didn't see Zelda in history class that day. This made him a bit disappointed. He was kind of looking forward to seeing her again. After class Link used his break as an opportunity to put up some of those found posters for Pikachu around the school. While he was in the middle of his task he heard a male voice call him. 

"Hey Link!" Said the stranger, "Sorry I forgot to say hi in class today."

Who was this guy? He didn't know him. Link looked at him sort of confused. Then he saw the scar on the right side of the man's face. 

"Wait that can't possibly be..." Link thought to himself.

"Oh shoot you probably don't recognize me!" Said the man, "It's me Zelda! But I'm not going by that name today. Today I'm Sheik. Yea I do this thing where some days I'm a girl and some days I'm a boy. I know it sounds crazy but hey it's just how I am I guess." 

"Hey I'm in no place to judge, I'm a trans guy myself so I really don't mind" Link signed. He was still a bit too nervous to speak in front of her. Or him in this case. 

Sheik responded cheerfully, "Oh cool! Nice to finally have someone who can relate for a change, and a fellow hylian no less!" 

Then Link asked, "How are you doing that with your voice? Making it sound deep like that I mean" 

"It just takes a lot of practice. The key is to speak from your chest, not your throat." Sheik replied.

"Wow! I should try doing that!" Link signed.

Sheik saw the posters tucked under Link's arm, "What are those for?" He asked.

"These are posters for a lost Pikachu I found at work. I'm putting them up in hopes that the owner will see them and claim him so that I don't have to drop him off at the shelter where he'll potentially never get back home, or worse." Link signed in reply. 

"Aw poor little guy! You know, I'd be happy to help. I could spread the word on social media." Said Sheik.

"Social media! Why didn't I think of that before? I swear sometimes I can be such an idiot, it's so embarrassing!" Link signed.

Sheik let out a little giggle, "It's alright, at least I gave you the idea. I'm gonna need your contact info if you want me to keep you updated if anyone claims him, you don't mind if I get your number do you?" 

"Sure no problem at all!" Link signed enthusiastically. 

The two exchanged numbers.

"Great! I'll make some posts about the lost pikachu as soon as I get home! Oh, and I'm gonna need some good pictures of him of course." Said Sheik.

"Sure thing. I'll text some pictures of him to you that I already took on my phone later." Link signed.

"And I could also help you put up some of those posters if you'd like." Sheik offered.

"Oh you don't have to really." Link signed.

"Nah I'm fine with it. It's not like I have anything better to do right now. Well... I could study, but making sure that little cutie finds his way back home seems more important right now. Besides, I kinda like being around you. You have this sort of welcoming and friendly vibe about you." Sheik responded.

Link blushed a little, "Okay. If you insist." He signed. 

He handed Sheik a few of the posters. and they got to work. It didn't take long to post the rest all around campus since he had help now. Afterwords they still had a bit of time left to chat.

"Hey you know we should hang out more. After school sound good?" Asked Sheik.

"I'd love to but I got work later. I have a day off tomorrow though." Link signed.

"Sounds good! Theres an old arcade really close by here. Wanna meet up there tomorrow? Maybe around 2:30? We could stop by for lunch after." Said Sheik.

"Sure!" Link signed. 

"Okay then! It's a date! I'll see you tomorrow!" Sheik said cheerfully, "I need to get to class now, it was really nice spending time with you! I'll text you if anything about Pikachu pops up!" Then he left.

Link was a bit sad to see him go. He really enjoyed his company. 

After school Link had to go to work. He sure didn't want to, but he needed some way to pay the rent. It was the same story as the day before. Get threatened and yelled at, almost have a panic attack, get to work and avoid the boss as much as possible. Rinse and repeat.

Link asked Mr. Koopa, "Jeeze how do you put up with this guy!?"

"You learn to put up with a lot when you're a single parent who's got a kid to feed. And this position pays pretty damn well too, even though my boss is a total dickbag." Was his answer.

Bowser Koopa was a father? Koopa didn't exactly seem like the fatherly type. Still, Link had to admire his resilience and dedication for his child's sake.

Again, he was exhausted by the time got back home. But he couldn't rest yet, first he needed to pick up Pikachu from Mario, and also ask if he could print out a few dozen more of those posters. When he knocked on Mario's door it was Peach who answered again. 

"I assume you're here to pick up your little friend?" She asked sweetly.

"Yes ma'm." Link answered with a little nod.

Peach stepped to the side and Pikachu came cheerfully prancing out the door. Link noticed that the pokémon now had little pink bowties clipped next to his ears. 

"Cute!" Link said when he saw the bows.

"Oh! My daughter must have done that. She's only three. You can take those off of him if you want." Said Peach.

"It's okay, I think they're adorable!" Said Link.

Then a little girl in a light blue dress ran out, "Pika, pika, pika!" Shouted the girl.

Pikachu responded, "Pika-pi!" 

Then both of them did it at the same time, "Pika, pika, pika, pika-pi!" 

Peach and Link both chuckled at the adorable display.

"Okay Rosalina, it's time to say goodbye to Pikachu now" Peach said to her daughter.

The little girl gave Pikachu a big hug, "Bye byeee!" Then she ran off back into the apartment.

Link smiled. He's always liked little kids. They were so innocent and sweet. 

"Oh! Almost forgot!" Said Peach, "My husband took the liberty of printing out more of those posters for you. We could also babysit Pikachu tomorrow as well if you'd like. We like having him around, especially Rosalina." 

"Wow... Thanks. You guys are super nice! I'll remember to return the favor sometime." Link said as he was handed the new posters. 

"It's no problem! We're always happy to help out a friend." Said Peach.

Link said farewell and returned to his apartment with his Pikachu. He was a bit nervous about meeting up with Zelda/Sheik the following day. He had never had someone ask if they could hang out with him. Back when he was still in foster care all the other kids found him to be too quiet and a bit odd so they rarely even spoke to him. With the exception of all those times he was teased and bullied by them that is. Link considered himself an ambivert. He wanted to socialize and go out with friends but he was often too shy to make any or would shut down while trying to. And his social skills weren't always the best either. He really hoped he wouldn't end up scaring off his new friend by doing or saying something weird. But hey at least he didn't have to worry about going to work tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yea I'm going with that theory that Rosalina is Mario and Peach's daughter from the future or something. I've always thought it was a pretty good theory but I don't usually see it being used in fan works so I thought hey why not use it here.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for animal death

Tonight's dream was... odd... He was in what may have been a castle? Or at least a a very large medieval-style building. There were people and voices, the people looked blurry but the voices were clear.  
One of the people appeared to may have been a large man with red hair and a beard. 

The man spoke, "My boy, this peace is what all true warriors strive for!" 

Um... okay?

"This DINNER is what all true warriors strive for!"

Ookaaaaay.....

"This LOTSA SPAGHETTI is what all true GAY LUIGI SQUADDALA for!"

Okay, WHAT????

"scrub."

....

"Scrub scrub scrub scrub scrub SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB."

Oh god he keeps getting louder! No no no!

"SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB SCRUB SCRU-"

Link woke up in a cold sweat again. He would have been scared and panicked if he weren't so busy being completely and utterly dumbfounded by whatever the hell was going on in that dream. And for some reason he now had this sudden craving for octorock meat? But, in the end it was just simply an odd dream. Now it was morning and it was time to get up and ready for the day.  
Link got up, got dressed, had a quick meal, played with Pikachu for a while before he dropped him off at Mario's again, and then started heading to college. His new friend decided to sit next him to his delight. Today seemed to be a "Zelda day" because she was using her girl voice again. 

"Hey Link!" She greeted just before plopping into the seat next to him.

"Hello!" Link signed cheerfully. 

He didn't know why he was still so nervous about speaking in front of Zelda. He thought he'd be much more comfortable around her by now. Maybe it was just the anxiety from worrying too much about what could go wrong when they met up after school that was making him continue to be nonverbal around her. That seemed to be the most likely reason. Still though, he felt like it could also be something else. Every time she was around him he'd feel his body temperature go up a bit and his heart would start to beat a little faster. But it didn't feel the same way as it did when he gets super anxious or tense. It was a different sort of feeling. And he had felt it before. He felt it once in grade school with a girl he liked, and another time in middle school with a boy he liked. Oh no, did he have a crush on her? No no... This was still different. Something about the feeling this time, it just felt... different from those other times. It was hard for him to describe, but it almost felt... like an intense sense of nostalgia? Well whatever it was, it could have been the reason Link still found it hard to speak to Zelda.

Zelda spoke, "Hey you know if you wanna bring anyone along with you when we meet up, fell free to! The more the merrier! Maybe you could bring a friend or partner." 

Partner? 

"I don't have a partner. I never have..." Link signed.

"Really? Never?" She said a bit surprised.

"No, I no one's ever been interested in me." Link signed.

"Huh..." Said Zelda, "I thought you would have. Hard to imagine no one being interested in a guy as cute as you are."

Link's face and ears immediately turned red. Cute? Did she just say he was CUTE? Okay, maybe he did have a bit of a crush on her after all. This was still different than those other times though.

Class began and the two stopped chatting. Professor Impa seemed to be excited about something.

"I have something very fascinating to share with you all today!" The professor started, "Yesterday an amazing discovery was found in Hyrule! Archeologists surveying the area for artifacts came across the ancient remains of horse that was alive when Hyrule was still in it's prime as a civilization!" 

Impa turned off the lights in the classroom and turned on the overhead projector. She brought up an article about the discovery. There was an image of the remains of the horse. It was very fascinating indeed, but something about the image made Link's stomach turn a little. Maybe it was because it was a dead animal? Link had never liked looking at dead animals. Especially horses, he loved horses. But this one had already been dead for thousands of years, why would it bother him? 

Impa continued, "Now you may be wondering what makes this particular specimen so special, well, at the time of it's death it was still wearing it's bridle and saddle. The gear had designs on it that seemingly match the descriptions of the horse gear found on the legendary hero's steed. Now the legend of the hero may be considered mostly myth, but many believe that it could have been inspired by real events, to a degree that is. So, this means that this newly discovered specimen may have been a horse that was used by the hero of legend, or... it may even be the one horse that the legend said he favored most, does anyone know the name of that horse?"

"Epona... her name is Epona..." Link thought silently to himself. 

But wait, how did he know that? They haven't gone over this in class yet. Well they did quickly go over the fact that the hero had a favored steed but that was about it.

"His steed's name was Epona!" Professor Impa answered for the class herself.

Link felt Zelda nudge his arm lightly.

"Wow this is so cool!" She whispered to him excitedly.

Link wanted to be excited too. This was incredibly interesting. But... There was something that just didn't feel right to him. He couldn't look at the image of the dead horse on the overhead. It made him feel sick for some reason.

Impa continued again, "This specimen is surprisingly well preserved. We can even see how the horse may have died! Some arrows were found in between some of it's ribs, suggesting that it was shot and fatally wounded."

Link felt something wet drip down his cheek. He wiped it away. It was a tear. Was he crying? Why was he crying? An overwhelming feeling of sorrow fell over him. He began to see and hear things that completely drowned out whatever Professor Impa was saying. He could hear the sound of some kind of creature. Wait... he knew what animal made those noises. It was his favorite animal, a horse! But it sounded like it was in great pain, like it was dying. She was dying. He wasn't in the classroom anymore, he was somewhere dark. There were trees. Why were there trees? Was he in a forest? Why was he in a forest? He suddenly felt small and vulnerable. He was covered in blood, but it was not his own. He looked to the side. There was a hideous pig-like creature, it was holding a weapon, was that a bow? But the creature was already dead and posed no threat. He could see what looked like a large bruise on it's head, as if something had hit it with extreme force. Was that what killed it? He heard the pained noises again. He looked down, there was a horse. She had a red coat and and white mane and her head was rested on his lap. She was such a beautiful animal. But she was dying. Link wanted to save her, he wanted to save her so badly. But he couldn't. He spoke, but it was not his voice, or was it? The voice that came out of him sounded like it was that of a child's. 

"No..." he said. His voice, or whoever's voice, was shaking, "No no no... Please don't leave me... You're all I have left... I'll be all alone without you..."

Tears were running down his face, "Epona... Epona don't leave me! Please don't leave me!" He screamed in desperation.

The horse looked at him. She used the last of her strength to nuzzle her soft snout into his arm, almost as if she were trying to comfort him. 

Link spoke again choking up on tears, "I love you Epona... Please don't leave me..."

The horse let out one last huff of breath, and he could no longer feel her warmth. 

"Link! Link! Dude are you okay?"

Zelda's voice snapped Link back to reality. He was back in the classroom at his desk. Professor Impa was done with the presentation and had moved onto something else. Was that all just some kind of crazy dream? He touched his cheek, it was soaked. He had been sobbing. And he was shaking violently. 

Zelda spoke to him again, "You okay there buddy? You were spaceing out there for a while. And you were crying really hard. What's wrong?"

Link suddenly felt very embarrassed. He excused himself to go to the bathroom to try and compose himself, leaving Zelda confused at what just happened with her friend. 

He splashed some water into his face and tried to get himself to calm down. What the hell was that? Some kind of hallucination? It felt so real! And it kinda felt like one of his dreams except much, MUCH more vivid. He decided to pretend that it never happened and went back to class. When Zelda had questioned him he just said he was experiencing a really weird episode and had a flashback to a sad memory and that he was okay now. He was lying of course but Zelda seemed satisfied with that answer. 

He only had one class that day so afterwards he was able to just go home and chill for a while until he had to meet up with Zelda at the arcade. 

"See ya later Link! Can't wait!" She said to him cheerfully before he left. 

Link was still a bit nervous, but not so nervous that he wanted to call it off. He decided that he should at least attempt to make himself look nice. So he put on those earrings he liked, along with a little bit of makeup. Although all he really had was lipgloss and bit of cheap eyeliner and light pink nail polish that he bought with his employee discount where he worked. It was still better than nothing though. 

While he was waiting for his nail polish to dry he heard a knock at the door. He walked over and carefully opened the door, trying his best not not to mess up his freshly painted nails. It was Luigi. He looked a bit worried. 

"Luigi? Is something up?" Link asked.

"Uhhh yeaaa..." Luigi started, "Bad news... My cousin- I mean the landlord kinda sorta found out about Pikachu and he gave us three days to get rid of him..." 

"What?!" Link shouted, "I was never told that you can't have animals here!"

"Neither were we! This is the first time we heard of this rule too!" Said Luigi, "Well at least he hasn't found out about Yoshi yet..."

"Can't you or your brother say anything to him? He is your cousin right?" Link asked.

"Well er... Ye he is, but Wario doesn't go any easier on us just because we're family." Luigi replied with a sigh.

"You can't talk to him at all?" Link asked.

"Well me and my bro did try but he wouldn't hear any of it." Luigi paused for a while to think, "Well maybe... Maybe if we get some other neighbors to help confront him, as well as Peach and Daisy, we could maybe convince him then? He may act tough but when he really doesn't like confrontation from groups of people. Learned that at our last family gathering." The last part he said with a chuckle. 

"Well if you think it will work I guess that plan will have to do. Do you think we could try gathering people up tomorrow though? I have somewhere to be soon." Said Link.

"Sure thing." Said Luigi, "And I'll also spread the word to some friends we know around here too."

"Thanks Luigi, your good friend" Said Link.

The complement made Luigi blush a little and give a soft smile. 

Link went back inside and plopped down on his couch. 

"Great! Another thing I have to be anxious about!" He thought to himself. 

He glanced at the time on his phone. It was almost 2:30! He'd better be on his way quick! He quickly got to his car and began on his way to his and Zelda's meeting destination. He prayed that this would go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAAAAA! You thought this was gonna be cute and hameartwarming! But you were WRONG! *evil laughter*
> 
> Don't worry though, there will still be a lot more of that cutesy stuff in future chapters. Just don't expect me to go always go easy on your heartstrings hehehe.


	7. Chapter 7

Link thought he wouldn't like the arcade so much. He thought all the noises would bother him. Turns out though that he actually found all the blips and beeps coming from the arcade machines quite pleasant to listen too. And it wasn't as crowded as he thought it would be either. Link sat at a table and waited for his friend. He hoped that she didn't change her mind because she thought he was weird after what happened in class earlier that day. 

He heard a voice speak from behind him, "Hey you, I know you. Your that guy who was muggin' at me the other day."

Ohhh no, he hoped that wasn't... He turned around and sees who else but Emo McHotTopic again. The rest of his little gang were there too. Great.

"Let it go Shadow." Said the blue mohawk kid.

Shadow, of course his name was "Shadow". Shadow gave Link a mean look and made a noise that kind of sounded a growl at him. Then backed off and went to go play on one of the arcade machines.

"Sorry bout' him." Said the blue haired kid, "Shads can be kind of a jerk sometimes but he's not so bad when you get to know em'. The name's Sonic by the way." And he struck a little pose.

"Your name is... Sonic?" Link asked in disbelief.

"Yea! Know why? Cuz' I'm the fastest thing alive!" Sonic said as he struck another little pose.

Then the little ginger kid spoke up, "Actually his real name is Ogilvie, but Sonic just sounds much cooler."

Sonic turned to the boy, "Tails I told you not to tell anyone that!" 

"Oh er... Sorry Sonic.." Said the little boy.

"My name is Miles, but my friends call me Tails, as you've probably already heard." The boy said to Link as he reaches out to shake his hand. 

This kid acted oddly mature for his age. 

Sonic spoke again, "Tails is the brains of the operation." Then he pointed to the big muscly kid with red dreadlocks, "And that's Knuckles, he's the brawn."

Knuckles punched his fist into his hand and tried to make an intimidating face.

"And together we make-" They all posed together, "Team Sonic!" 

"Oh my god, WHY do I hang out with you three!?" Link could hear Shadow saying in the back.

"Oh I'm sorry Mr. Black Parade, were we having too much fun in your general vicinity?" Sonic asked sarcastically.

Shadow just made an annoyed groan.

Link couldn't help but let out a little laugh. Maybe these guys weren't so bad after all.

Sonic turned over to Link again, "Oh yea I forgot to ask! What's your name?"

"Um uh... My name is Link. I don't have a cool nickname though." Link replied.

"Hey, bet you can't beat me at Street Fighter." Said Sonic

"Hm?" Link was a bit confused.

Then Knuckles spoke, "Sonic is challenging you to a game. He's got the highest score on every game in this place and he always likes to challenge new people he sees in the arcade."

"Oh... Okay. I'm waiting on a friend right now but I guess one game in the meantime couldn't hurt." Said Link.

"Alright then!" Said Sonic, "May the best man win!" 

They walked over to the Street Fighter arcade machine and Sonic put a few quarters in. Link played Street Fighter before, but never competitively. The character roster popped up and Link chose Chun-Li while Sonic chose Vega. The others watched intently. 

"Round one, FIGHT!" 

Link barely had any time to react before his character was being thrown around the stage. Damn this kid was FAST. He really did live up to his name. 

The others kept on chanting "GO SONIC GO!" Except Shadow that is. He just stood there with his arms folded as if he's seen this a million times before, which he probably has. 

It was really hard for Link to keep up with this kid. He barely got a few punches and kicks in before his character got a K.O in round 1 and round 2.

"Damn, you’re really good!" Link said scratching the back of his head.

"Why thank you!" Sonic said with a smug look on his face, "Anyone else wanna take me on?" 

"Don't worry Link, I got this!" Said a familiar voice.

Link and Sonic turned around to find Zelda standing there. She put some quarters into the machine.

"Well alright then!" Said Sonic.

The character roster popped up again and Zelda chose Ryu while Sonic chose Vega again. 

"Round 1, FIGHT!"

The game started and Zelda was actually surprisingly able to keep up with Sonic for a bit. Zelda was amazing at dodging most of Sonic's attacks and even got a few combos in on him. Link saw that Sonic was beginning to sweat, he clearly was not used to going up against someone as good as he was. Things were getting intense, and a crowd had started gathering around the arcade machine. Even Shadow seemed interested in what was going on. The time limit ran out and no one got a K.O. However Sonic did manage to win because he had the most health left, it was a really close call though. However the fight was still not over. They still had another round.

"Round 2, FIGHT!"

Things got even more intense. The crowd around the arcade machine was growing bigger. It made Link feel a little bit uncomfortable to be surrounded by so many people but at least they weren't focused on him and were instead focused on the match. Then it happened. Something that had not happened to Sonic in years. He got a K.O. 

"Woah!" Knuckles exclaimed. 

"No way!" Shouted Tails.

"Nice!" Said Shadow.

Sonic just stood there blinking, trying to processes what just happened. 

"Hey snap out of it kid we still got another round!" Zelda said to him.

Sonic became focused again and stared intently at the screen. 

"Round 3, FIGHT!"

This round was even more intense than the last two. It was getting harder and harder to be able to tell who might win. Almost everyone in the arcade was crowded around the machine at this point. This would have made Link feel incredibly uncomfortable if he weren't so focused on the match himself. He was rooting for Zelda. 

The time ran out again. And Sonic just barely had more health left than Zelda did. Looks like she couldn't beat the master after all. But that was still pretty awesome!

The crowd soon dispersed and the only ones left were Link, Zelda, and Sonic and his gang. 

"Well I have to admit, you almost had me there!" Said Sonic. He shook Zelda's hand, "Good game dude!"

"Same at you." Zelda said with a wink. 

Then Sonic turned to Link and whispered to him, "Your girlfriend sure is cute!" and then him and his gang walked off to another arcade machine.

Girlfriend?! Link was blushing wildly. He though she was his girlfriend?! Well... Link certainly did not dislike the idea of Zelda being his girlfriend but the fact of the matter was that she was not his girlfriend therefore he felt embarrassed. Luckily though, Zelda did not hear Sonic's comment. 

"Well that was exciting!" Said Zelda, "Sorry I was kinda late, got caught up in some traffic on the way here."

"Soooo, what do you wanna do?" She looked at him and asked.

"I don't know." Link signed, "Maybe play another game? Or maybe we could just chat for a while. We still don't know much about each other after all."

"Oh yea! Sorry bout' that." Said Zelda, "Love your nail polish by the way!"

"Thank you." Link signed as he blushed a little at the complement.

They sat down at a table. 

"Okay I'll start. How old are you?" Zelda asked.

"I'm 19, turning 20 in August." Link replied, "How about you?"

"I just turned 19 two months ago." Said Zelda, "Okay now how about your favorite color, what's your favorite color? Personally I can't choose between purple or blue."

"I've always liked green. Especially forest green. It just feels like a peaceful color to me." Link signed.

"Green is nice! I've always been fond of green too now that I think of it. It sparks a sense of familiarity in me, and makes me feel... safe almost? I guess I'll be adding that color to the list of colors that I can't decide are my favorite." Zelda said with a giggle at the end. 

"I come from a pretty rich family. My dad wanted me to major as a lawyer so I could make a lot of money but I really didn't want to so I left home to start over on my own path. It's been rough at times, but good experience. My dad is still pretty mad at me though." Zelda told Link, "So that's my story, what's yours?" 

"Oh well I uh... I don't really know..." Link began to sign, "I was found as a baby in an alleyway and grew up in foster care. As soon as I turned 18 I was thrown out on the streets with no money and was homeless for a year until I scrounged up enough to rent a small apartment. I began community collage while I was still living in a homeless shelter. I'm glad I was able to get out of there, I hated that place almost as much as I hated foster care." 

"Oh..." Said Zelda, "I'm... really sorry to hear that." 

"No need to worry, I'm doing okay now. Well, for the most part. I'm still struggling a bit with money but I'll be fine." Link reassured her.

Zelda tried to change the subject to something more positive, "So what do you think about the unit were on in class now? All that legendary hero stuff we’ve been learning about in class? I think it's pretty cool!" 

"I think it's pretty cool too!" Link signed, "I've always liked epic heroic tales of adventure! This may sound crazy, but personally I think a lot of the legends may be true. But that could just be me. I know a lot of people don't believe in all that magic and gods stuff, but I've just always liked the idea of the world being much more exciting than how it seems at first glance."

"That I can agree with" Said Zelda, "But... To tell you the truth, I actually hope the legends aren't all true." 

"Why?" Questioned Link.

Zelda replied, "Well think about it. Being reborn over and over again, never finding peace, never being able to reunite with your loved ones in the afterlife, having to fight great evil over and over again, never being able to live a normal life, never being able to choose your own path, having to face all that pain and trauma over and over again. It must be an agonizing existence, I feel so bad for the legendary hero and the goddess. I hope most of it isn't real because I hate to think of real people having to live through any of that." 

Link thought for a while. She had a good point. 

Link signed to her again, "You're right, that really must an agonizing existence. But... At least the hero and the goddess always had each other right?" 

"I guess your right. At least they always had each other." Said Zelda, "You know... I wonder if they ever fell in love. If they're souls are eternally bound to each other they must have formed a very strong bond through the thousands of years they were together. It would make sense if they fell in love at least once."

There was something about this conversation that stuck with Link. His heart rate began to increase a bit, but he didn't feel panicked or anxious. He started to feel a light breeze blow through his hair. But where was it coming from? They were indoors weren't they? The room felt empty, with the exception of him and Zelda being there. He could see the sky and clouds now. 

"I'll always be there for you. Even if we have to live a thousand lives, I will always fight by your side. I promise."

Who's voice was that? Was that his? It couldn't have been. It sounded nothing like him. But still, he felt that it was his voice in a way. He looked at Zelda. She was so pretty. 

"Yea... They always had each other." he spoke softly.

"Hey you spoke!" Zelda snapped him back to reality again. 

"Wh-What?" Link asked.

"You’re speaking to me!" Zelda said excitedly.

"Oh... I am." Link haden't realized that he was speaking to her out loud. 

"That's good right?" Zelda asked.

"Yea... I guess so..." Was Link's response. 

"Come on, let's get something to eat. There's a really good burger bar within walking distance to here and it's cheap too." Said Zelda. 

The two got up, left the arcade, and began making their way towards the burger bar. They chatted a lot on the way there. Link was starting to become much more comfortable with speaking to her now. It felt nice to be around her. It sort of felt like they've been friends for a long time, even though they had only met a few days ago. When they had arrived at their destination, Zelda payed for the meal and they sat down and chatted some more while they ate.

"Hey we should hang out again tomorrow! Since there's no school." Said Zelda.

"I would love to but I have to deal with my landlord. He found out about Pikachu and he's not happy about it. But I as well as the other residents were never told that we can't have pets." Said Link.

"What? That's so unfair!" Zelda shouted a little too loudly. 

"Yea, it is. So tomorrow me and some of my neighbors are gonna try and round up some of the other residents that live in my apartment complex to confront him about it." Said Link.

"Well I wish you and Pikachu the best of luck! Where do you live anyways?" Zelda asked.

Link replied, "Greenshell apartments. It's probably about a fifteen minute drive from here." 

"Oh I know that place. I drive by there every day on my way to class. It's right across the street from Mario Bros Plumbing right?" Said Zelda.

"Yea, that's the place. The Mario bros are actually my neighbors and they're gonna help me out tomorrow." Said Link.

"Well that's nice of them!" Said Zelda.

"Yea they're pretty cool guys, they've also been helping me take care of Pikachu." Said Link.

Zelda looked at the time on her phone, "We better be heading back soon, I gotta get to work. I'm a DJ at a nightclub."

A DJ? That sounded way better than Link's crappy retail job. Even though he didn't really like nightclubs because they were too loud for him. And how could she stand the noise? She wasn't autistic like he was but she still had those long sensitive hylian ears. 

"Hey you should stop by sometime!" Said Zelda.

"I would but I'm not really a nightclub person, sorry" Link said sadly.

"That's okay, neither am I honestly." Said Zelda, "I just enjoy the music part of it." 

The two friends walked back to their cars and hugged goodbye. Hugging Zelda felt so nice for Link, he almost didn't want to let her go. When he got back home he asked Luigi for any updates on the Pikachu situation. He said that he did manage to get a few friends to join in already. He thanked Luigi and then went back to his apartment with Pikachu. He played with him for a while and then decided to take a nap. He had a another dream, it was another nice one, and it was even more clear than the last.  
He was in a bed. He looked down at his body, it was covered in scars. But these were old scars that were already healed and did not hurt. He wondered how he got them. Some of them were cuts, others looked like they may have been burns. He felt some movement next to him. There was someone else in bed with him. It was a hylian girl. He couldn't see her face because she was laying on her side facing away from him. She had long hair that was the color of sunshine and felt like silk when he touched it. She was asleep and dreaming. But her dream must have not been a very good one because Link began to hear her whimpering and squirming a under the sheets. She was having some kind of nightmare.  
Without thinking twice, Link put his arms around the girl and held her tightly. 

"Hey" He said to her in an ever so soft and gentile voice. Again, the voice was not his own, but in a way he felt like it was.

"Shhh, it's okay, I'm here, everything's okay." He said. 

He softly kissed the back of the girl's head and he could no longer hear her crying or feel her squirming. She had calmed down, and he could feel her holding his hand. They lay there for a while, not saying anything. It felt nice being so close to someone. Every so often he would nuzzle his face into her neck and she seemed to like that. He felt that he loved this girl with all his heart and he wanted to protect her. But who was she? He wished he could see her face, she must have been beautiful. He closed his eyes and fell peacefully asleep next to her. But to his dismay, when he fell asleep in the dream he awoke in the real world.  
Link looked at the time. 12AM?! He had slept for much longer than he had planned to. How did he even manage to nap for that long? He looked over at Pikachu, he was fast asleep in his bed. Link sighed as he thought about what might happen tomorrow. Or later that day that is, since it was 12AM now. Maybe he could do something to pass the time and take his mind off things until he was sleepy again. A little walk outside in the fresh night air might help. He got up, carefully as to not wake up the sleeping pikachu, and left his apartment for a nice refreshing walk.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big TW for ableism, transphobia, sexual harassment, and child abuse mentioned in this chapter.
> 
> Yea sorry things are about to get dark again.

The cold night air was refreshing and felt good against Link's face. It especially felt nice blowing against his sensitive ears. He felt at peace, and because of this he easily got lost in his own thoughts. He thought about a lot of things. Mostly things the he liked such as cute animals, fairy tales, cartoons, and tasty food. Then he thought about his friends. He's never had many friends in the past, but since he moved in he's made a lot of them. Mario and his family, Zelda, even Sonic and his gang. It seemed that things were finally starting to look up for Link. And he deserved it, he had a pretty rough life so far.  
Then Link thought back to his life in foster care. No one really cared about him. The other children were often cruel, and the various foster parents that he had lived with were usually cold to him. Many of them didn't have the patience to deal with autistic children. He remembered that many times when he had meltdowns he would be punished for them. Usually the punishment was just a time out, but sometimes it was something a bit more harsh like a spanking, and one time it was a dislocated arm. He tried to forget that last one, but it was one of those memories that were too hard to get rid of, so he was stuck with it. He remembered them trying to convince him that he had just fallen, and to tell that to the doctor when he got his arm fixed. But he knew what really happened. However he still lied to the doctor about it. He was too scared of what the punishment would be if he didn't.  
Link tried to shake off the bad memory, it was starting to upset him. He tried thinking of something made him happy. Now what would make him happy... Ah yes! Zelda! Zelda made Link happy! Link really liked Zelda. She was so kind to him. He was very glad that he had the chance to meet her and he couldn't wait to hang out with her again. He also had to admit that he may have had a bit of a crush on her. But he didn't mind just being friends, and besides he'd be way to nervous to ask her out anyways. He was terrible at asking people out. He tried it once in middle school and had regretted ever since. There was a boy that Link liked a lot. He thought he was cute and funny and wanted to ask him out. It took him months to finally build up the courage to do it, but when he did his crush rejected him and called him a weirdo and also claimed to be taken. And if that didn't hurt enough, the boy told his girlfriend and after school she had rounded up a few of her friends, ambushed Link in an alleyway, and beat the crap out of him. 

Their words still rang in his ears, "Did you actually think you had a chance? Why would anyone want to go out with one of the slow kids? You must be even more retarded than you act!" 

He's been called things like that before but it had especially hurt him that time. And to top it all off his foster parents punished him for coming home too late.  
Link was getting upset again. He needed to stop thinking about these bad memories. Besides, Zelda would never do something like that to him. She was too kind to ever do something like that to him. But still, he felt way too nervous to ask her out. Sure she probably wouldn't get her friends to beat him up in an alleyway, but he imagined that she would most likely still reject him. She was so smart and charismatic while he was just the weird kid that nobody wanted to sit with at lunch. And what if she doesn't even really like being his friend? What if she just felt sorry for him? No. No she wouldn't do that. She was his friend. Link wished he had known her as a child. They could have played Link's favorite games together like "Adventurer" and "Pretend You're a Wolf". Those were games he made up for himself when he was little. He preferred to play alone but if he had known Zelda back then he would have made an exception for her. He never told anyone but, sometimes he'd still play those games in secret. Although the games didn't exactly have the same kick as they did when he was little they were still at least somewhat entertaining to him. He wondered if Zelda would have liked playing those games. When he played "Adventurer" he would sometimes imagine that he had a companion. Sometimes it would be a fairy, sometimes it would be a talking object like a sword or a magic hat, a few times it was even a talking boat, and sometimes it would be a princess with magical powers and who also knew cool ninja moves. He thought Zelda would be most fitted for the princess companion role. But not "Pretend You're a Wolf". That was a special game that he would only play with his imaginary friend. She lived in the shadows and her name was "Mindy" or "Mina" or something like that. He couldn't exactly remember what her name was but he knew it was short and started with an "M". She may have been imaginary but to him at the time she was as real as any other person. She would even talk and make jokes with him. And she could do something really cool! She could manipulate the shadows to some degree, and when they were playing "pretend you're a wolf" she change the shape of Link's shadow and make it look a wolf! He never saw what she actually looked like though. He was only ever able to see her silhouette and hear her voice. She said it had something to do with living in another world and only having enough power to partially be there or something. Link couldn't understand any of it. But sadly their friendship did not last. The other children said he was crazy and weird for thinking she was actually real, and his foster parents said he needed to grow out of it or else they'd put him in an asylum where they'd tie him up and stick things in his brain. He knew now that they were just saying those things to get him to stop but he believed them at the time and it scared him enough to make him stop talking to his imaginary friend. And as he got older he figured that the reason that she had felt so real to him was that he was so lonely that he subconsciously made himself forgot that he was making everything up in his head. He wondered if Zelda would get along with her. He could imagine them being friends with each other.  
Suddenly, Link was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt something hard and painful hit him on the back. Someone had thrown something at him. He turned around and looked down. It was a (now broken) beer bottle. Something about this made Link tense up a little. 

"Hey you!" He heard a mean sounding voice yell at him.

He looked up to see a group of tough and mean looking guys and they were clearly drunk. Link did not like this. He didn't like this at all. 

"Are you deaf or somethin? I called you like five times!" Said one of the men, assumingely the leader.

He must have called Link while he was still lost in his thoughts. Link had a tendency to tune everything else out when he was thinking deeply.

"Hey, you look at me when I'm talking!" The leader yelled at him.

Link looked at the man. He was stepping closer to him and this only made Link even more tense.

"I was askin' you, what are you? Me and my boys here can't seem to figure it out. I personally bet on girl." The man said

"I-I... I'm a b-boy..." Link was beginning to go nonverbal again. He did not feel safe here at all.

"Well you sure as hell don't sound like one! You some kind of tranny or somethin?"

That word... He hated that word. And he hated anyone who called him that word.  
Link didn't reply. He didn't say anything and he couldn't if he tried. 

The man leered down at him, "Well if you're not gonna tell me than it looks like I just have to find out myself!"

The man aggressively grabbed Link by the arms and he tried his best to get away. He was able to escape for a moment but not long after on of the other thugs pushed him to the ground and then three others pinned him down. The leader bent down close to him and Link could smell the alcohol in his breath. 

"Now let's see if my bet was right." Said the man.

He began to slide his hand up Link's shirt. No no no, he did not like this at all, he HATED this. Link used all his strength to try and get away but the other men were much larger and stronger than he was. He was so scared that he began to have a panic attack. He could feel the man's hand slip under his binder and grab one of his breasts. Then his panic attack turned into a full blown meltdown. He started screaming at the top of his lungs, and he was loud. VERY loud.

"Jesus Christ, shut her up before somebody hears!" Said one of the the men who were pinning him down.

He felt someone punch him in the face, "Shut it!" 

Link kept on screaming and he was punched in the face again, "I said shut the hell up!" 

He still kept on screaming. Then he felt an awful sharp pain go through his right shoulder, "Shut the fuck up or I'll kill you!" 

He stopped screaming. But not because he chose to. He couldn't breathe, he was being strangled. So this was it then? This is how he was going to die? He didn't want to die. He wasn't ready yet. 19 years was not enough, he had only barely began to experience life. And he certainly didn't want to go out like this. He couldn't fight back. They were so much stronger than him and he was completely helpless. He could feel himself getting more and more light headed. The end was now drawing near. He closed his eyes. He couldn't hear the men yelling at him anymore. But he could hear other things. 

He could hear a female voice shouting, "Link! Link! Please don't give up! You can do this I believe in you! Stay alive! Stay alive for me! Please..."

He knew this voice. But who was it? Who was he hearing?

The voice spoke again, "Have courage Link. You can do this."

Courage... That word awoke something deep within him. Something that was buried far back into his subconscious. Courage... He could feel a fire build up inside him. Courage... He could feel his strength returning to him. Courage... He was no longer afraid.

"Wake up sleepyhead..."

Link opened his eyes and glared dead into the eyes of his attacker. This took the man by surprise and it distracted him long enough for Link to slip his legs out of one of the the other thug's grips and kick the man in the stomach as hard as possible. The others went to his aid while Link jumped to his feet and prepared to defend himself. The thugs wanted to attack but the leader stopped them.

"This one is all mine!" He said as he flipped out a knife.

Link wasn't scared though. He was ready. The man to a swing and Link dodged to the side. He took another swing and he dodged again. They did this a few times until the man was able to corner Link and pin him up against a wall. 

"Not so tough now are you little girl?" The leader said as he grabbed on to the front of Link's shirt and held the knife up to his throat.

Link didn't have anything to defend himself with, and he wasn't strong enough to knock the man out. So he had to get creative and use the sharpest thing he had on him at the time as a weapon. In the blink of an eye Link quickly undid one of his earrings and jabbed the sharp end of it into his attacker's eye. The man let out a scream and let go of Link, giving him enough time to get out of there. He ran faster than he ever had in his life. He knew they were chasing him. He tried to lose them by climbing up something. He turned a corner and found a one story building. He immediately began to climb up it without a second thought. He had no idea how he was able to though. He had never climbed like that in his life, but it just seemed to come naturally in this situation, as if he instinctively knew how to do it. But he didn't worry about that at that moment, he needed place to hide. He climbed up on top of the roof and lay low. He could hear the thugs footsteps running by and they didn't stop. Link stayed up on that rooftop long after he heard them run by. He didn't dare climb down until he was absolutely one hundred percent sure they were gone.  
After about an hour of waiting Link finally convinced himself that it was okay to come down. But the problem remained. How? His adrenaline rush had long since faded and he could feel the pain from his injuries finally catching up to him. And he didn't even know how he managed to climb up there in the first place. He checked his phone, the screen was cracked but luckily it still worked. The time said 3:45. He needed to get home. No, he needed medical attention. But he didn't have medical insurance and he certainly did not want to end up with a medical bill to pay off. He barely even had enough money to eat. So what could he do? He thought for a while and then got an idea. He could text Zelda! But he may have to wait till morning for her to respond. He figured that it wasn't likely she'd be up at hour. But there was no harm in trying so he texted her right away anyways. 

"Zelda, I need your help!" Link texted.

And to his surprise she texted back almost immediately, "Link? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"No, I'm not okay. It's long story. I just really need you to come pick me up." Link texted back. And then he added, "Oh and please bring a ladder, I really need one."

"Oh my god... Okay I'll come and get you! Just text me the address." Zelda texted back.

Link could not see the address of the building from where he was standing. But he could see a sign with the name of the street he was at.

"I can't find the address so will a street do?" Link asked Zelda via text.

He texted her the street name and she replied, "Yea I know where that is. I'll be right there just you sit tight!"

It was about a 15 minute wait until Link spotted Zelda's car park by a curve. She stepped out of the car and started looking for him. Link was still nonverbal and he probably would be for a while, so he couldn't call out for her. So instead he whistled. It worked and got her attention. Zelda looked towards where the sound came from and saw Link on the roof of the building.

"Oh... So that's why you needed a ladder... Okay." She said, then she walked closer to the building and got a better look at him, "Oh... OH MY GOD! Link! You're bleeding! What the hell happened?!"

"I'll explain later." Link signed, "Did you bring the ladder?"

"Oh! Yea I did!" Zelda said as she ran back to her car to pull the ladder out of her trunk. 

It wasn't a very big ladder, but it would have to do. Zelda set it by the building and climbed up. It was only tall enough for her to be able to touch Link's hands if they both reached out to each other.

"Oh my gosh you look even worse up close! Er... no offense..." Zelda said, "We're gonna need to get you medical attention buddy."

Link signed, "No medical insurance."

"It's okay, I can pay the medical bill." Said Zelda.

"Please don't, I don't want you to spend that much money on me." Link signed.

"Well if you insist that I guess I could try to patch you up myself back at my place. But I really think you should take me up on my offer." Said Zelda, "Okay now we gotta get you down. Try climbing out slowly and I'll see if I can grab you and carry you down. Don't worry I'm stronger than I look."

Link slowly began to climb down the building. He was trembling hard which was making it difficult to keep his balance. When he tried putting weight on his right arm it was too painful and he slipped. Luckily though Zelda was able to catch him before he fell.

"Woah! Careful there." Said Zelda, "Wow you're really shaking. Don't worry it's gonna be okay."

Zelda was able to slowly carry Link the rest of the way down and set him on the ground. 

"Your shoulder... You're bleeding all over the place!" Zelda said alarmed.

Link touched his right shoulder and winced at the pain. It felt soaked. When looked back at his hand it was covered in blood. 

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the ER? That looks really bad!" Said Zelda.

Link just shook his head. She may have been better off than him money-wise but she still barely scraping by like he was. He couldn't ask her to pay his medical bill, he'd feel too guilty about it. 

"Alright then get in the car and I'll take you to my place. And try to put some pressure on that wound so you don't bleed out." Said Zelda.

The two got into her car and drove off. Link stayed silent the entire time.

"When we get to my place I can let you barrow some of my clothes while I try to wash the ones your wearing okay?" Zelda said to him, "And then maybe you could tell me what happened to you?

Link just gave a little nod.  
He couldn't believe that he was alive. He was beat up pretty badly but he was still alive. How did he manage to get away? It all felt like it happened so fast. One second he was gasping for air and clinging on to his last bit of life and then the next he was jabbing his earring into someone's eye and then running for his life! Oh... his earring... Link tried to feel for it, but it wasn't there. He must have lost it in all the action. Shame, he really liked those earrings. But at least he still had one left. He felt something touch his hand. He looked down and saw Zelda holding it. She must have been worried about him. Link gently squeezed her hand. He was so thankful to have her. He didn't know what he would have done without her help. He probably would have still been up on that roof. Link was still very shaken up over what had happened and was in a lot of pain but something told him deep down that he would be okay. If there was one thing that he learned from this experience it was this: Taking a walk was a HORRIBLE idea.


	9. Chapter 9

"Wow your face got banged up pretty badly, but at least your nose doesn't seem to be broken. You are going to have one nasty black eye though." Said Zelda as she was gently wiping the blood off of Link's face.

She had sat him down on her bathroom toilet and pulled out her first aid kit so she could try her best to treat Link's injuries.

"Woah, why is your neck all bruised up? What happened to you? It looks like you were strangled or something!" Zelda asked. 

Link was still nonverbal so he signed in reply, "I was attacked."

"You were attacked?! Link you should have called the police not me!" Zelda said in alarm. 

The police... The police! Why didn't he think to call the police?! Why was Zelda the first person he thought to call for help?! He felt so stupid. 

"I forgot" Link signed embarrassed at his own forgetfulness.

Zelda let out a sigh, "It's alright, I can take you to the police station in the morning. Well... technically it is already morning, so then later this morning."

Link gave a little nod.

"Alright then first thing's first. We should really take a look at that injury on your shoulder. And you're going to have to remove your shirt and jacket for me, sorry about that." Said Zelda

Link removed his jacket and his shirt, leaving only his binder on, which was also soaked in blood. And there was a hole torn in it where the injury was.

"Um Link. I'm sorry, but you're gonna need to take that off too. Don't worry I'll give you something to cover yourself up with so you don't feel embarrassed." Said Zelda.

She handed him a towel that was hanging on a hook beside her so he could use it to cover his chest. 

"Thank you" Link signed.

He began to remove his binder and found that with the pain in his shoulder it was much more of a difficult task to preform than he anticipated. Zelda noticed this and helped him. It took a some time but together they were finally able to get it off. 

Then Zelda said, "I'll try to wash these tomorrow, you can borrow some of my clothes in the meantime. You can also barrow one of my bras if you want although they may be a bit big for you."

Link just nodded again. Then Zelda got to work at wiping away the blood so that she could see the wound properly.

"Jesus Christ... Link I think you've been stabbed!" Zelda said in alarm.

"Well that would explain the sudden sharp pain I felt while I was being pinned down." Link thought silently to himself.

"I should really get you to the ER Link!" Zelda exclaimed.

Link stubbornly shook his head. 

"Link you are being ridiculous! Just let me pay for the medical bill!" Zelda shouted.

Link only shook his head again, this time a little harder. He didn't like her shouting at him like that.

"Link! Just listen to me!" Zelda shouted again. 

One of Link's ears began to twitch a bit, which is something his body instinctively did any time became irritated.

"Oh my god why are you being so stubborn?!" Zelda yelled at him again.

The shouting just kept making Link more and more upset. Everything was too much for him right now. Being sexually assaulted, getting beaten and stabbed, almost getting choked to death, being stuck up on a roof for an hour, all the pain he was in, feeling light headed from the blood loss, feeling exhausted both physically and mentally, and now his own best friend was shouting at him. He was beginning to feel another melt down coming on.

"Link we are going to the ER right now!" Zelda yelled once again.

Then Link snapped. 

"NO!" He screamed out loud and angrily.

Zelda was taken completely by surprise. She was not expecting such a verbally aggressive reaction. Especially out of someone as quiet and mild mannered as Link was.  
Link soon realized what he had done and suddenly felt ashamed. He tried to hold back the tears but he just couldn't. He bowed his head down and started crying.

Then Zelda spoke to him softly, "Hey hey hey, shhh it's okay. Calm down there friend, It'll be okay. I'm sorry for yelling at you. Just breathe. I'm gonna take care of you." 

She began cleaning the stab wound the best she could. Fortunately most of the bleeding had already stopped although it was still bleeding a little bit. She had to look up online what do to and it said that he needed stitches.

Zelda spoke, "Link, you need stitches. Now are you SURE you don't want me to take you to the ER? Because I've never done this before, although I can try." 

Link just shook his head one last time.

Zelda took in a deep breath, "Alright then... Here goes nothing I guess. I'm really sorry if this hurts..."

She slid the needle through his skin. Link winced and made a whimpering noise. It hurt really bad. 

"Hang in there buddy, it'll be over soon." Zelda tried to comfort.

She slid the needle in again and he let out a small yelp. 

Zelda stopped for a moment and asked, "Would it helped if I sang to you?"

Link looked up at her.

Zelda explained, "My mother would sing to me when I was little to get me to calm down whenever I was hurt or scared. It might help you, or at least serve as a bit of a distraction from the pain." 

Link nodded. He hoped that it would work at least a little bit.  
Zelda began to sing to him softly. The song had no words and it sounded like a lullaby. It sounded familiar too, he wondered if he had ever heard it before. Surprisingly it worked pretty well. Zelda had a beautiful voice and it soothed Link enough to get him to calm down. He closed his eyes and became lost in her song. He could have sworn he heard this lullaby somewhere before. He knew it. In fact he could probably sing it himself he knew it so well. But... He couldn't remember where or when he heard it. And he certainly couldn't remember there ever being a time before this when someone sang it to him. Suddenly Link felt like he was somewhere else and his pain was gone. Looks like he was about to have one of those weird dreamlike hallucinations again. He was honestly used to it at this point. He was in a room. He guessed it was a child's room since it was painted colorfully and the shelves were covered in toys. And an odd thing about this room is that it seemed to be moving. Link could feel the room swaying up and down slowly. It felt as if he was maybe on a boat? Why was he on a boat? He could hear the whimpering of a child. He turned towards the noise and saw a small bed with two figures sitting over it facing away from him. One was male and the other was a pregnant female, and they appeared to both be hylian.

"She's gotten worse..." The pregnant woman said in a distraught sounding voice, "At first I was sure she was going to make it but now I..."

The male figure now spoke, "Don't talk like that, she'll get better I know it. Besides, she's got the legendary Ze- I mean, the legendary captain Tetra as her mother! And the Hero of the Wind as her father. And not to mention me as her grandfather. With genes like that there's no doubt she'll recover and be good as new!" 

Tetra... He knew that name. Link was absolutely positive that he knew that name. But he didn't know anyone named Tetra. 

"I hope your right Linebeck..." Said Tetra, "I pray to the goddesses that you're right..." 

The man turned around and Link got to see his face. He new that face... He was a friend. No, he was family. But Link never had a family. 

"Oh it's you kid. Didn't hear you walk in." The man said to him, "I'll uhh, I'll leave you and Tetra alone with her for a while. See you later kid." And then he silently left the room.

Tetra still had her back faced to Link and she was looking down at the bed. Link walked over to the bed and sat down next her. He looked at the bed. There was a small child laying in it who looked very ill. Link suddenly felt a wave of intense grief wash over him. This little girl... He knew her. She was also family. Very close family that he did not want to lose. 

"Hey you big dweeb, where've you been all day? I've been looking all over for you." Tetra gave him a light nudge in the arm.

Link spoke involuntarily, "I've been around... Took a little walk around the island that's all." Again, just like in the other dreams, it wasn't his voice but he felt like it was him.

"Trying to get your mind off things huh?" Tetra asked.

"Guess you could say that..." Link replied, "How's she been doing?"

Tetra sighed, "I won't lie, she's gotten worse." She held Link's hand, "Link... I'm so scared. We're going to lose her. We're going to lose our little girl." Her voice was shaky and she was trying her best to hold back her tears and stay strong. 

Link tried to comfort her, "Hey, hey, hey don't you say that. We've never given up before and we aren't gonna give up now. Ciela will get better and she'll be able to play and get into all sorts of trouble with her siblings again, and be great big sister to Linebeck II when he, or she pops out. And then we'll have a great big party and invite everyone we know. And then MAYBE would finally get married. And hey, if we're still careless enough, we could make even more kids after that. How's that sound?" Then he playfully ruffled Tetra's hair.

Tetra was silent for a moment and then spoke again, "You know how much I hate it when you ruffle my hair like that. I'm the one who's supposed to do that to you, not the other way around you dweebus." 

Although Link couldn't see her face, something told him that she was rolling her eyes at him.

Tetra was silent for another moment and then spoke to him again, "Okay... Okay I believe you. We can do this." She squeezed on to Link's hand a little more tightly, "We can do this." 

Ciela whimpered again. 

"Shhh, it's okay sweetheart, daddy's got you." Link said as he gently stroked the young girl's head.

Then Tetra began to sing softly. It was a lullaby. Link could recognize this too. But this time, for once, he knew where it was from. It was Zelda's lullaby! The one Zelda sang to him to get him to calm down!  
Just like it did when Zelda started tending Link's wounds, the song that Tetra sang soothed him. He could feel himself drifting off to sleep. 

Then he heard Tetra speak to him, "Dozing off again I see. I swear Link you're such a sleepyhead." 

"Wake up sleepyhead."

"Hey, wake up sleepyhead!"

Link opened his eyes. The pain had returned and he was back in Zelda's bathroom. 

"You dozed off there for sec silly." Zelda said with a light chuckle, "Well I'm done with the stitches now." 

She was done? He didn't feel anything. Wow that lullaby must have really worked.  
Zelda put some disinfectant on the stitches and bandaged up the wound as properly as she could and gave him some of her clothes to put on when she was finished. Then she put disinfectant and bandaids on whatever cuts he had on his face and gave him an ice pack for his eye. The whole time Link was still thinking about the dream he had. These dreams just kept on getting more and more vivid. And there were way to detailed and specific to just be dreams, there must have been something behind them. He wished he could talk to someone about them but he didn't want people to think he was crazy and therapy costed a lot of money. 

"You okay there Link? You look exhausted." Said Zelda when she was finished.

Link just nodded his head. He really was exhausted.

"You can crash on my couch for the night if you want."

Link nodded his head again.

"Alrighty then. I'm pretty tuckered out myself. I think I'll go pass out for a while too." 

Zelda walked him to her couch. He could have walked perfectly fine on his own but Zelda insisted and Link didn't complain. He lie down and was out like a light as soon as his head hit the pillow. Then Zelda went to go grab a blanket for him before heading off to sleep herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So to explain the Linebeck thing, I have a headcanon that he's WW Link's long lost father. So yea :V 
> 
> Also Link and Tetra named their daughter after Ciela the fairy.


End file.
